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Andrew Krech / the citizens' voice
According to an internal document, jobs at Kraft Foods in Hanover Township will 'begin to transition to Genpact's India facility' in July 2015.

Employees of Kraft Foods in Hanover Township whose jobs are being transferred to third-party contractor Genpact fear it is the first step in sending their work to India.

An internal document, leaked to employees, The Citizens' Voice and other media outlets, states, "Beginning July 2015, FTE (full-time equivalents) will begin to transition to Genpact's India facility." The document, a bid form, values the deal between Kraft and Genpact at $140 million.

Two Kraft employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the internal document was put on one of Kraft's intranet websites and circulated among workers. All employees now have a copy, the employees said.

One employee said the internal document was leaked to employees at about 3 p.m. Thursday and that employees "feel like they have been lied to and deceived." The employee called the internal document "disturbing" after employees were told they would not lose their jobs and would receive "comparable" salaries and benefits.

Officials from Kraft Foods and Genpact reassured about 350 Kraft employees at meetings at the Woodlands Inn and Resort in Plains Township last week that they would be hired by Genpact and move to the company's expanded nearby facility in the Hanover Industrial Estates in Hanover Township by the end of June.

The document lists a website that cannot be accessed without a password. Representatives for Kraft and Genpact would not confirm its authenticity.

Following additional questions, Hodel said in an email. "We don't have anyone available for an interview. Our focus right now is on our employees and ensuring that they have a smooth transition."

Genpact spokeswoman Gail Marold said in an email, "If Genpact decided to move work to another location, that doesn't necessarily mean a loss in jobs."

Marold did not respond to telephone messages. When asked in subsequent emails to explain the document, she sent an email stating, "At Genpact our aim is to retrain and re-deploy skilled American workers across industries, and our growth reflects the success of that strategy. Our Wilkes-Barre (Hanover Township) center has added 10 new clients since 2005. Given confidentiality, we can't comment on specific client engagements."

An employee at Kraft said after the document circulated, "There was senior management in tears and our managers in tears because these people have been here 18 to 30 years."

"If you look at Genpact's history, this is what this company does," the employee said. "The only way this company exists is by absorbing service contracts from other companies, streamlining them and making a profit off them. They're not there to give the employees long-term careers. They're there to get their knowledge and pay someone else to do it for less."

Genpact has a previous history of sending work to India. In 2012, for example, Genpact transferred some of the work from Walgreeens accounting center in Danville, Ill., to India, according to published articles.

"They (Genpact) take good hard-working American jobs, they streamline processes to make them super-efficient, they overburden employees at a lower wage and then they send jobs overseas," the Kraft employee said.

Other employees stopped in Kraft's parking lot in Hanover Township on Friday would not comment. One employee cited security cameras in the parking lot. A security guard who manned the security desk referred calls to a media hotline.

Genpact specializes in business process services, such as accounting and customer service for clients around the world.

The Kraft employee said this is a "win-win" situation for Kraft Foods officials because they do not look like the "bad guy" as far as layoffs and they do not have to pay unemployment benefits or severance packages.

"For Kraft's bottom line, this is great when first quarter earnings come out. But for the employees here, we know now what the real story is," the employee said. "The real story is we don't have long-term jobs. They are going to take whatever information they need, train other people at less money and they're going to send jobs overseas."

A statement Marold released said Genpact is making a multi-million dollar investment through a significant expansion and renovation of its facility in Hanover Township, especially to accommodate the Kraft employees who will be joining Genpact.

Marold said the employees will continue to manage Kraft's retail and food service customer service orders, payments and collections, and over a period of time, may also have opportunities to work with other Genpact clients as part of growth plans.

She said Kraft employees bring "talent and expertise" that Genpact officials expect will lead to continued growth at their Hanover Township location. She added that Genpact has a growing business in Hanover Township and across the United States that offers "significant opportunities across hundreds of clients."

The Kraft employee called the alleged transition of work to India a "dirty pool game."

"It's Kraft's way of getting off the hook, not paying anything to the local community, not giving anything back to the local community, and saying, 'Here, you take care of our mess. What you do after, that is your ball game. Just make us look like the good guys,'" he said.

Michael P. Buffer, staff writer, contributed to this report.

dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2115

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